A Comprehensive Systematic Review of Health Claims, Food Marketing and Food Advertising via Television for Children: Using the Nutrient Profile Model

Good nutrition is essential to prevent Non-Communicable Diseases (NCDs) like diabetes and heart disease. NCDs account for a large Global Burden of Disease (GBD). There are different guidelines for a healthy diet to avoid obesity and NCDs and reduce GBD. World Health Organization has published recommendations named Nutrient Profile Model (NPM) to categorize foods as healthy and unhealthy. 

First, the keywords Nutrient Profile Model and Child were searched in Web of Science, Scopus, Google Scholar, and PubMed databases, then articles in the English language until October 6, 2023 were selected and entered into the Endnote X8 resource management software. Duplicated and unrelated articles with the main purpose of this project were excluded from the study. Finally, 23 studies out of 542 entered the full evaluation stage according inclusion criteria.

Various studies investigated NP models’ application to food advertisements. The results revealed that most foods and beverages advertised on TV are not healthy, according to NPM. Also, the unhealthiness of foods like sweet beverages was illustrated, and studies recommended not be marketed to children. NPM is recommended as a tool to help governments to regulate marketing rules for food and legislate food advertisement. 

NPM can be a guideline for labeling health claims and warning labels on food packages and adverting. More strict regulations are recommended for labeling health claims. Articles recommended using the Nutrient Profile Model as a tool for checking the criteria of foods before allowing producers to label them with health claims and advertise on TV.